Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the most recent Quartet Report’s statement that Israel’s continuing policy of settlement and construction” was “steadily eroding the viability of the two-state solution”

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    On 5 July, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), issued a statement expressing deep concerns about the announcement of new Israeli settlement units in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson statement, on 22 June, also expressed concern about Israel’s decision to provide an additional £12 million of funding for settlements. The position of the UK on Israeli settlements is clear: they are illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace and make a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, harder to achieve. We will continue to raise our objections to settlements with the Israeli government.

  • Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress her Department has made on the consultation into how the proceeds of the immigration skills charge should be spent.

    Robert Halfon

    The income raised from the Immigration Skills Charge will support the provision of skills for the resident population, to address the skills gaps that employers face. The amount of funding generated will depend on employer use of the Tier 2 route. Further information will be set out in due course.

  • Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward proposals to amend the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) Representations and Appeals Regulations 2007 to enable the adjudicator to make an order awarding costs and expenses to appellants in successful parking appeals; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    Under current regulations the adjudicator may make an order awarding costs and expenses against an enforcement authority where the adjudicator considers that the disputed decision was wholly unreasonable. The adjudicator may also award costs and expenses against either party where that party has acted frivolously or vexatiously or where their conduct in making, pursuing or resisting an appeal was wholly unreasonable. The Government has no plans to change this arrangement.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16286 of 18 November 2015, on the National Crime Agency (NCA), how many of those suspicious activity reports were investigated by the NCA.

    Mike Penning

    Suspicious activity reports (SARs) submitted under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Terrorism Act 2000 are available to officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) and to accredited officers in all UK police forces. This allows NCA officers and the police to use SARs for a variety of investigative and intelligence purposes.

    No central record is held relating to the ultimate use of SAR data by these end users and therefore no data is available relating to how many investigations or enforcement actions may have resulted from SARs.

    A report providing an overview of the operation of the SARs regime is published annually on the NCA website, the link to the latest report is below:

    http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/suspicious-activity-reports-sars

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-01-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 16853, how the additional £4 million allocated for national minimum wage enforcement was allocated within national minimum wage enforcement activity.

    Greg Hands

    The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it.

    Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage not only have to pay arrears of wages at current minimum wage rates but also face financial penalties of up to £20,000 per underpaid worker. A further increase in penalties will come into force in April 2016 and will increase the penalty percentage from 100% to 200% of the underpayments owed to each worker, up to the existing maximum.

    The extra funding was allocated in two tranches. The first of £3 million has been used by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to recruit additional staff primarily into front line compliance posts to increase the scope and coverage of interventions aimed at identifying employers who do not pay the minimum wage.

    The second tranche of £1 million has been used to appoint staff into new roles specifically geared to promoting compliance with the National Minimum Wage, through education and support for employers, helping workers to understand their rights, and tackling serious non-compliance where deliberate behaviour is suspected.

    Staff across HMRC contribute to enforcing National Minimum Wage, including people who work in legal advice, debt management, technical support and criminal investigation. However, HMRC does not record the specific numbers of those staff involved beyond those identified in UIN 16853.

    HMRC does not breakdown the overall budget allocated into specific activities. For details of the overall budget in 2015/16, I refer the honourable member back to the answer provided at UIN 16853. Funding allocations for 2016/17 onwards have yet to be confirmed.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from the Welsh Government on the fiscal framework to accompany the devolution of income tax powers to Wales.

    Greg Hands

    The Autumn Statement announced that the Government will legislate to remove the need for a referendum to introduce Welsh Rates of Income Tax. The Government has been clear that it will amend the draft Wales Bill to do this.

    The programme of fiscal reform has been designed for a purpose: to empower the Welsh Government with further tools and levers to deliver more growth and be more accountable to the people of Wales by raising more of the money they spend.

    We will continue to discuss the implementation of Welsh Rates of Income Tax – including the financial arrangements – with a range of interested stakeholders, including the Welsh Government.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was involved in the process to select which charities would receive funding from the Tampon Tax Fund.

    Mr David Gauke

    ‘Showcase’ bids were identified, with the help of departmental expertise, that were innovative, in line with the aims of government policy, and likely to provide strong value for money. The bids selected represent a range of different initiatives to benefit women across the whole of the UK.

    Additionally, in recognition of the very high level of interest received, the government has also allocated funding to the Women’s Fund for Scotland, Comic Relief and Rosa who have specialist experience in this area, to disburse funding to a range of grassroots women’s organisations. These funds mean further awards will be made to a high number of charities in this sector.

  • Graham Allen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Graham Allen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made on establishing a new national centre of expertise on tackling child sexual abuse; and when that centre is expected to open.

    Karen Bradley

    Tackling child sexual abuse is a top priority for this Government and good progress is being made on delivering the commitments made in “Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation” – the Government’s response to address on a national scale the failures that had been seen in Rotherham and elsewhere. We are working collaboratively across Whitehall to deliver on our commitments and will publish an update to the “Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation” report later this year. This will set out our progress to date on what we have achieved in tackling offending, reducing vulnerability and supporting victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. It will also set out what future steps the government plans to take.

    As part of this work, we have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat, providing a clear mandate for police forces to safeguard children and to share intelligence and best practice. We have also rolled out to all UK police forces Child abuse image database (CAID) which provides law enforcement with effective tools to search seized devices. We have delivered a £7 million uplift in funding over the financial years 2014 – 15 and 2015 – 16 for non statutory organisations which support victims and survivors of sexual abuse and have announced that the same amount will be available in 2016 – 17.

    In January this year we launched a new national whistle-blowing helpline, operated by the NSPCC, for any employee who wants to raise a concern about how their organisation is dealing with a concern about a child. The establishment of the Centre of Expertise has formed part of discussions held at the Inter Ministerial Group on Child Sexual Abuse, and we are currently working towards its procurement. In terms of the Centre working with the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, the Inquiry is independent of Government, but the Government is, and will, continue to fully co-operate with it.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the public sector spend on health per head of population (a) in real terms and (b) as a proportion of GDP in each year between 2015-16 and 2020-21.

    Alistair Burt

    Spend as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is stated on United Kingdom public expenditure figures and is produced by HM Treasury. The Department is responsible for reporting on health spend in England and is not in a position to provide equivalent spend figures for health by the devolved administrations in future years.

    The Spending Review settlement, delivered by the Chancellor on 25 November, set the Department’s overall budget for the remaining years of the parliament and the level of funding that will be available to the National Health Service. It set absolute spending totals, not spending as a percentage of GDP, providing certainty for financial planning over the period.

  • Calum Kerr – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Calum Kerr – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Calum Kerr on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he plans to take to protect UK science from the effect of uncertainty about access to European Research Council grants.

    Joseph Johnson

    The UK’s decision to leave the EU has no immediate effect on the right of researchers to apply or to participate in Horizon 2020 as the UK is still an EU member state. UK participants can continue to apply to the programme in the usual way. The Commission has made a public statement on its website to this effect. The future of UK access to European research and innovation funding will be determined as part of wider discussions with the EU.